Page 16 of Blood Revealed

“Get up,” Blood says to me. “Get dressed. Don’t want him seeing you like this.”

I throw on Blood’s T-shirt. I swim in it. It’s so long, it hangs past my knees. Once Blood has his jeans pulled up and zipped, he yells, “Come on in.”

“Hey, Han.” Boss greets me. I’mHannow? A nickname from the VP. “We got trouble. Anguino cartel is making moves. Apparently, Anguino’s number two lost something pretty important to him. Cargo he’s not willing to let go.”

I gasp and both men look at me. “You know the Anguino Cartel?” Boss asks me, eyebrow raised, at the same time Blood says, “Don’t worry, baby. It’s got nothing to do with you. You’re safe here.”

But I know I’m not. Not if I let Blood claim me. Old ladies get put on the off-limits list. That shit gets spread far and wide. If he claims me, Escalante—I found out from the Pythons that he’sAnguino’s number two—will come down on the Lords with more power than they’ll know how to handle.

Why? Why couldn’t I have this one damn thing? I spent practically my whole life doing what my dad and his pathetic club asked of me, never asking for anything in return.

They own me this, the chance to be Blood’s old lady. I want to take care of him and let him take care of me. I know, as sure as I’m breathing, that I’ll never want anything more. Yet because of a deal I had no part in, that dream dissipates before my eyes. Damn you, Dad. Damn you,el maestro. Damn you both to hell.

4.

Blood, a.k.a. Raif

Present day…

“The fuck’s goin’ on out there?” Boss yells across the table, slamming his fist on the wooden surface.

Duke called a meeting of his lieutenants, though Hero and Scotch were ordered to be here since their women are involved in one way or another. Hero stands with his arms crossed over his chest, scowling in a way that contrasts with his pretty-boy, Hollywood-type appearance. Women love Hero and he loved them pretty much on a nightly basis until Brinley came along, knocking him on his ass.

Never seen a brother go from playing the field to family man with the quickness of Hero. And now he’s definitely pissed. Scotch is another one who liked to fuck around —tall, strong motherfucker, the scar on his face made women go wild. Rugged or some shit- that is until he found himself the proud papa of twin baby girls and he rekindled a romance with the love of his life, Francesca “Frankie” Cardone. Whereas Hero’s scowl makes him look pissed, Scotch’s is calculating. I trust Scotch, but I don’t trust calculating.

“The women ain’t safe—should’ve never let those Brown women on the compound,” Boss keeps going, oblivious to the fist I’m trying like hell to keep from making contact with his face. “All they bring is trouble.”

The fuck is this shit? Brinley is a Brown woman.Hannahis a Brown woman.

Hero pushes off the wall where he’s been standing quiet up till now to charge Boss, getting there before I do, raising his fist in a sucker punch to our VP’s jaw before he knows what hit him. “Say that again, motherfucker. I goddamn dare you,” he bites out.

I’ve never seen the brothers so on edge. Boss stands fast enough to knock his chair over, the sound reverberating around the room, then Hero and Boss—brothers, friends—proceed to beat the shit out of each other. Blood and spittle flying through the air.

“You want trouble?” I jump in to separate them. Chaos and Sneak take Hero. Scotch, Carver, and I take on Boss, who’s a large fucker, big as a bull moose. He keeps struggling against us. “Stop, Boss,” I yell. “Who brought Houdini here? People who live in glass houses, man. It’s shit, but pointing fingers at the women ain’t gonna help us now.”

He shoves at my chest to move me back a few steps, pulling at his hair and linking his fingers to the tip of his head. His nostrils flare as he takes in hard breaths.

“You could no more ask Hero to end things with Brin than we could ask you to leave Elise. You’re one of my best friends so I’m straining to keep my temper in check, but say one word against Hannah, and I don’t care you’re bigger than me. I’ll lay your motherfucking ass out.” I rub the back of my neck, hoping for cooler heads to prevail. “We love Elise. We love all the women. Caity, Liv, Frankie, Brin, and Hannah. Hell, the only old ladies who haven’t led to death or injury in one way or another are Trish and Brighton.”

Duke slams his fist on the table to get our attention. “I get it. We’re all upset at the shit goin’ down. But, Boss, I allowed Hannah to stay here and don’t remember you protestin’ then. And if you say somethin’ againstmy wife, I’ll end ya right now.”

“The women are here.” Sneak, whose wife is completely innocent of anything, steps in as the voice of reason. “They’re not going anywhere. So next idea. Where do we go from here?”

I get it. I really do. Since Brinley’s rescue, it’s been a shit show out there. The Horde are crumbling from within and because they haven’t been able to keep up with the internal and the external bullshit, they’ve lost ground. When a club loses ground, the vultures descend. And that’s what happened here. The vultures are pushing in, trying to claim territory that’s not Horde. We’re not giving it up easily. Can’t keep the women safe with that kind of threat so close to home. Cartels? Shit, they’ve got most of the Southwest. What do they need Kentucky for? And the meth problem here has compounded. Kids dropping dead all over the state. We get news coming in from Ohio, Tennessee, and even West Virginia where we’re located. It’s bad all over. And it’s bad because of the Horde and the Riot and every other bullshit club spreading that poison to young people. Getting them addicted. Ruining lives.

It can’t go on. We can’t let it. So how do we protect our families and the public from getting burned when the fire is blazing all around us?

Fighting won’t help, though. That’s what’s bringing down the Horde. They got dissention in the ranks. Thank Christ. Some of those men aren’t down with the way the Horde have been heading. We saw that years ago. The Lords used to be into some serious shit, too. Manufacturing and dealing. Before my time, but not Duke’s. He was there. He lost his brother because of it. Boss, Chaos, Sneak, Carver, and I came on board when we were fighting to clean house. And it was a fight.

I’ve done things in my life there’s no forgiveness for, but I did them for good reasons and I’d do it again. To get us clean. To get us to the club we wanted to be. The club we are now and trying like hell to keep.

The problem is, it looks like we’re headed down that road. Not the drugs, but doing things there’s no forgiveness for. And for Hannah, I’ll do it. To know she’s safe and can live her life breathing free, I’ll gladly give everything I have, even my life it comes to that.

“Listen up, brothers.” Duke brings order back to the room. “We’re doubling the patrols. We work out a schedule. Men with women involved, they get guards. It sucks we gotta go back to this, but I ain’t taking any chances. Last time we went through this, I lost my brother. I will not risk my wife or my kids. I know, knowin’ the men you are, you ain’t willin’ to lose yours, either. So this is where we’re at. Diligence. Keepin’ sharp. Goin’ about our business is the best way for those fucks to let their guard down, thinkin’ that we’re not takin’ the threat seriously. We’re takin’ the threat seriously. Anyone got anythin’ else to say?”

“No,” Boss says, wiping the blood from his lip.

“Good. Then Boss, Hero, go get a fuckin’ beer and talk this shit out. Don’t wanna see you goin’ at each other again. Got me?”

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